


Le Renard

by Benny_Alt



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who: Unbound
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:07:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23097565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Benny_Alt/pseuds/Benny_Alt
Summary: A story with a personal version of the Doctor, based on Big Finish's Unbound's range! First wrote it for the Unbound: Adventures in Time & Space Charity Anthology.
Kudos: 2





	Le Renard

**Le Renard**

A man stepped out of a blue police box that had seemingly just appeared in the middle of the lower districts of an unfamiliar planet. A young woman followed him,her face set in a disapproving frown at the decrepit look of the place, a dark alley surrounded by dimly lit houses, some with broken windows. The man looked around him, and ran a hand through his brown hair before smiling to his companion, clearly not noticing anything wrong with his surroundings. He turned back to the box and called out : 

“Hey, Doc! Where did you land us this time?”

From deep inside the craft, a voice answered back.“What? Oh, don’t start complaining like your sister now, Martin!” 

The man, Martin, sighed, as the voice continued mumbling. “Now where could I have put this book? Surely not among the flux regulators?” 

It continued like that for a few minutes, and Martin exchanged an exasperated look with Lin, his older sister, until finally the doors of the box opened. Out came a woman stylishly dressed in a business suit with a brown coat, her feathered hat adding an eccentric touch to her looks. She appeared to be around fifty, but of course was much, much older than that. Her long black hair cascaded down her back as she smiled to her companions and showed them the book she had been searching for.

“I knew I still had it somewhere!”

“Doctor, where are we?” asked Lin, not paying attention to the Doctor or her book, as she was rather more busy looking around herself. She was sure she could see faces staring behind the faded windows.

“Oh, we are on the planet Gwenda; it’s a great tourist spot if you know where to look,” The Doctor grinned, still holding the book in her hands. On the cover, the words “Gwenda: 1001 Places to See and Where Not to Get Mugged!” were written in a big letters over a picture of a futuristic-looking cityscape (well, futuristic-looking for anyone in the 21st century at least) with an alien raising three tentacles in what was probably the species equivalent of a thumbs up. “I thought after that business with the Sontarans in Lyon I ought to bring you two somewhere nice and quiet for some fun times.”

Martin took the book from the Doctor and started flipping the pages. “That sounds like a great idea Doc!”

Lin, on the other hand, sighed again and kept her eyes on her shoes as she asked the Doctor, “Are you sure there’s no deadly threats around this time? Last time you promised us one of your ‘fun times’ we ended up in jail after we accidentally got mixed up in that heist affair… and then the sun nearly blew up!” 

They had been traveling with the Doctor for a few months now, long enough for Lin to gather that whenever the Doctor went somewhere nice and quiet for a bit of time off, troubles were bound to be near. These usually involved aliens trying to take over the world (whichever world they were on at that time), humans wanting to do just the same, or a high concentration of thieves and otherwise petty criminals that somehow always got involved in whatever crisis they had to face. That was when it wasn’t just impending doom caused by a supernova, black hole, or other natural phenomenon humans just weren’t meant to face. And especially not on a daily basis. The Doctor was like a magnet for danger, and no matter how thrilling Lin found the universe, she couldn’t help but be wary. If not for herself, then at least for her brother, Martin, who was such an idealistic soul. “Please just tell me this planet won’t suffer any major crisis in the next 24 hours…” 

The Doctor laughed, a short, snappish sound that did nothing to reassure Lin.

“Don’t worry, I’m quite sure there’s no incoming alien threat or world shattering crisis planned in the next few decades. There is nothing much to this city other than a nice place to visit for tourist and locals alike, and a great variety of shops in the lower district, which just happens to be where I landed us. Now why don’t you and your brother go exploring for a bit?” She gestured toward Martin, who was still seemingly engrossed in the book. He looked up and smiled at the two women, clearly not caring about the potential dangers, as always.

“Sure, Doc, that seems like a good idea! Where do we start?” 

“Oh, I’m not coming with you. I have a few matters to attend to, friends to visit…” The Doctor smiled again, tilting her head slightly to the left in what she hoped was a perfectly normal and ordinary looking stance. She could never tell what body languages to adopt with her companions, and she certainly hoped she wasn’t looking at all suspicious . She had important plans for the day and didn’t want to involve Lin and Martin in them. They were still so young. “Nothing very thrilling I’m afraid, but it’s always good to check up on old relations, especially since I haven’t been on this planet in so long!” She almost winked, then decided against it. That would be too much.

Lin rolled her eyes. “Are you seriously just going to let us wander alone through a shady looking neighborhood like this? What happened to your so called rule number one: Don’t wander off?”

“Come on, we just landed in a back alley. The main market is not two streets from here and I can assure you, it’s perfectly safe. Plus, this is the historical district; it’s full of lots of interesting sights! You can find all the information you need in the book,” the Doctor replied, maybe a bit too brightly. “Is that rule number one? I always forget...” she finished, almost too quietly for Lin to catch.

“Oh, will there be any souvenir shops?” Martin chimed in, totally oblivious to the tension between his sister and the Doctor, and still clutching the tourist guide. He always had a soft spot for cheap gifts and tourist traps, but if there was one universal concept, it was con men finding ways to extort money from gullible tourists, and Lin didn’t want that to happen here. “I’d like to complete my snowballs collection!”

“Sure, like there are on every planet in the galaxy…” muttered Lin, clearly none too happy with the Doctor’s plans for the day. She crossed her arm and gave the Doctor a killing stare, hoping to make her change her mind. Lin just knew splitting up like that would lead to trouble, and whatever the Doctor was up to, it would come back to ruin their “quiet times”. Plus, she didn’t much fancy babysitting Martin all day and making sure he didn’t cause a diplomatic incident when interacting with whatever aliens lived there. Her brother had an habit of getting into trouble and not even noticing, and as a big sister it was often her job to make sure he got out of it in one piece. Said job had gotten consistently harder when he first met the Doctor, since Martin’s trouble now involved deadly monsters and universe shattering disasters.

The Doctor smiled back at Lin, totally impervious to her stare. “Well it’s settled then! I’ll be on my way. You two just go and have fun. Everything will be alright, so there’s no need to worry! If you need me, just get back here and I’ll join you as quickly as possible. Oh, and of course, stay out of trouble.” She laughed at that, and continued, “ Alright, that’s everything said, so….  _ Au revoir mes amis _ !” She waved at them and walked briskly away down the alley, her coat tails floating behind her. With a last look to her companions, she turned to the left and was gone.

Martin waved at her for a few seconds longer, then turned to Lin with a smile “Ok sis! Where shall we go now? The wondrous Drowning Gardens of Athryp the Third? The Mall of Surprises? Or how about the Alley of the Shining Jewels of Jurges? Oh, there’s also the Market of Thieves and the supposedly Haunted Hall of Horrors, but those are in the “If You’ve Already Written Your Will and Do Not Fear Death Anymore, Feel Free to Visit” section of the book, so I don’t know if it’s such a good idea... just kidding, let’s do them all! ”

Lin frowned at him, her arms still crossed. “Ok, you’re pulling my leg. I bet you just invented at least half of those, because there’s no way you already found that many tourist attractions in the guide. Look, let’s just walk around the main market district for a bit, alright? Do like the Doctor said, and stay safe for once.”

“Aww, that’s no fun! What’s the point of being on an alien planet if you can’t go visit the more dangerous places?”

Still grinning, he took Lin’s arm and they both walked out of the alley, and into the busy market place.

* * *

Harry Müller watched Gwenda’s spaceport grow bigger and bigger as his shuttle made planetfall. The Earth detective dragged himself away from the impressive view to look once more at his mission briefing. This was it, finally, the one case that would help propel the twenty five year old redhead into the big league. If everything worked out according to plan, he would bust one of the biggest crime rings this side of the galaxy and even get their mysterious leader or  _ leaders - _ intel was strangely scarce on that point - who was known only as  _ Le Renard _ . Detectives loved giving French code-names to mysterious criminals. It always made their cases seems more important somehow, though why would anyone think that sticking some French into an investigation would made it sound more interesting was beyond Harry. 

Details on the foxy leader(s) were nearly non-existent, due to the fact that none of the ring members the police managed to catch had ever met them. There were some photos of alleged meeting between the tycoon and their subordinates, but either they were fake or the Renard wasn’t one person, but instead a group of leaders. Nearly each photo showed a different person, a mix of different men and women, faces blurred by the poor quality of the shots. Harry flicked through the photographs his bosses at the Earth Federation office had given him, looking for a telltale sign that would allow him to recognize the blurry individuals if ever he met one of them. But as was pointed out in his files, none of the pictures offered conclusive evidence to determine a clear identity for any of the supposed leaders. A crime ring being run by a group wasn’t unheard off, but it was hardly ever the case on such a scale. A galaxy wide operation like this one, that had been terrorising the human controlled cosmos for decades now, usually only had one figurehead. Sure, there might be surrounding lieutenants, but still, these organisations were helmed by a single leader. There was, of course, the possibility that the picture only showed the right hand men (and women) of  _ Le  _ _ Renard _ , and that the police had never even gotten close to them. This, in Harry’s opinion, was the most likely option. A group of leaders worked well in such a highly specialised and restricted organisation, but any if there were too many top dogs then they inevitably started fighting amongst themselves. In cases like that the authorities usually didn’t even have to step in because such top heavy organisations had the habit of collapsing in on themselves.

_ Le Renard _ , however, seemed to play a different game. Blackmail, bank heists, smuggling, drug dealing, artifacts trafficking… you name it, and the  _ Renard  _ mob were sure to play a role in it. Specialising in everything illegal, the ring and its mysterious leader had been nothing but trouble for the past fifty years or so - or even longer, according to some of the wilder rumours. They had always been untraceable;that is, until the previous week, when one of gang’s members was captured, and sold some intel about  _ Le Renard’s  _ presence on Gwenda in order to save her own skin.

Harry skimmed through the interrogation report to get his facts straight again. Last week, a group broke into the Braxiatel Collection and stole some priceless artifacts (well, they had a price, but the numbers were so big Harry just couldn’t fathom them) before trying to make their escape. However, they’d tripped some alarms on the way out, and while most had managed to escape with the loot, the Collection’s security guards - not to mention a bunch of rather angry looking Killorans - had managed to catch one of the bandits. According to the interrogation, this was a crime months in the planning, and only the newly installed alarms stopped them from making a clean escape. 

Clearly, the bandits had an inside source, perhaps even access to security blueprints. According to the prisoner, Gwenda was the source of the leak. There were even rumors of the bandits meeting up with the Renard in the shadiest places of Gwenda’s underworld in order to deliver their loot. Harry just had to get lucky and find a way to get to the secret meeting, and he could get back the stolen artifacts, arrest the Renard, dismantle one of the biggest crime ring in history. Once he’d achieved this easier-said-than-done task he’d get promoted, receive a few medals of honor, and get his own movie chronicling his heroics…

The rather rough landing woke Harry from his daydreams. He closed his files, put them back in his suitcase, and headed out of the cabin’s door. Putting his grey coat on, he smiled and walked out of the shuttle, heading in the direction of the marketplace. Time to investigate.

* * *

The marketplace was even busier than Lin had expected. After going through a few tourist attraction to make Martin happy (as it turned out, the Drowning Gardens really were a sight to behold) and having managed to avoid all of the deadlier and dangerous places (why were they even listed in a tourist guide in the first place?) they went for a stroll through the market, admiring the beautiful alleys and the vendor’s merchandise, going from exotic food that smelled strangely of lavender, to the occasional gift shops with holo-postcards, four dimensional snowglobes and various T-shirt saying things like “I got mugged on Gwenda!” or “Drowning Gardens of Gwenda: hold your breath!”. Lin rolled her eyes; stupid T-shirts were the same the universe over. She’d left Martin to explore one of the shops and was taking a well deserved rest in a nearby bar. She could see Martin from where she was sitting and decided to relax now that her brother was relatively safe. In the end, the Doctor has been right. No worldwide crisis had come to disturb their holidays and they’d actually had a rather nice day in the city. She ordered a drink and watched the TV displaying the news behind the counter. She smiled slightly at the incongruous situation. Here she was, sitting in a bar and watching the news, with her brother shopping not a hundred metres away, and yet she was on a completely alien planet hundreds of years into her own future. It all seemed so mundane to her now, and yet not 6 months ago she hadn’t had a clue that there was anything out there. Sure, she’d read the theories about alien lifeforms, and knew that statistically speaking the odds of humanity being alone were incredibly low, but there was a whole world between knowing the statistics and actually seeing extraterrestrial life out in the universe. The whole time travel thing was really just the icing on the cake at this point.

She reflected on their time with the Doctor while sipping her cocktail. It hadn’t always been a pleasant journey, but overall she had no regrets. She had seen so much wonderful things now, and Martin was always so thrilled, even in the face of danger. She was glad that the Doctor had stopped here, on Gwenda, and that the day had gone perfectly well. The only thing troubling her was how the Doctor was spending the day, because whatever the Time Lady had claimed, Lin was certain she wasn’t here just for sightseeing or a chit chat with old friends. It just wasn’t her style. Hopefully she hadn’t got herself into trouble or if she had, she wouldn’t need Lin and Martin to help her. Lin was determined to have at least one perfect day, and she hoped the Doctor wouldn’t end up ruining it… 

She shook her head and decided to put any thoughts of the Doctor to the side for the time being. Instead, she focused on the TV where the news anchor, a blue tentacled alien, was talking about a recent heist that had stunned this part of space. 

“Latest update on the Braxiatel Collection heist! The police confirmed during a press conference today that the crime ring led by the infamous Renard were responsible for the burglary. And, coming in exclusively, we know from a reliable source that the detectives have a lead! A secret mission,’ the octopoid continued, seemingly unaware of the irony in reporting the covert operation to his billions of viewers. ‘Is currently underway on Nyl with the intention of hunting down the group’s leader.” He gestured to a nearby map showing the planet in question. It was on the other side of that corner of space, a few thousand light years away from Gwenda. “Don’t forget folks,’ he concluded, delivering the network’s slogan with a flurry of tentacles. ‘You heard it first!” 

The program then started to repeat what little was known about the theft, with wild speculation from the part of the anchor and several so-called experts. Clearly, they had nothing more to say and were just using the crime as a spectacle to bring the viewing figures up while public interest was high. Lyn stopped paying attention and ordered another drink, noticing that Martin was making his way back from the souvenir shop, his arms full of various bags.

We’re lucky this happened a few light years away from us, thought Lin, or else the Doctor would have probably jumped right in to try and solve the case.

Unless… was this just a coincidence? The Doctor had seemed to be hiding something when they’d left her in the morning. And running off on her own to try and solve a mysterious art theft committed by an infamous crime ring was exactly her style. Lin sighed, and realised that she couldn’t be satisfied until she knew for sure if her suspicions about the Doctor’s real reason for visiting Gwenda were correct.

Looking around her, she noticed a scrawny man on the far side of the bar, who was currently engaged in intense negotiations with the barman. He was red-haired, and seemed no older than twenty five, though Lin knew full well that meant nothing. On different planets appearances could often be deceptive. She was too far away to hear what they were saying, but she was sure she saw the young man slip some bills to the reluctant barman. Buying information perhaps? She frowned, and tried to edge closer to the conversation while looking inconspicuous. With all her attention turned to the stranger she didn’t notice Martin creeping up on her until he called out her name.

“Hey, Lin! Look what I found!” he said, showing off his purchase with a wide grin on his face “Do you think the Doctor will be back soon? I really want to show her what I got.”

At these words, the stranger turned toward them, a thoughtful expression on his face.

“Not now, Martin!” Lin whispered.

“What’s up? Why are you acting so mysterious?” Martin asked, clearly confused.

The stranger was making his way toward them.“I’m sorry, did you just say ‘the Doctor’?” His tone was light, but his furrowed eyebrows and intense stare said otherwise.

“Ummm… yeah, but… why do you care?” answered Lin suspiciously.

“You mean, the Doctor, time travelling alien, lives in a little blue box?” 

“Yep, that sounds just like her!” said Martin, who didn’t seem to find it strange that an strange man sitting in a bar would know about the Doctor.

“Martin…” growled Lin under her breath. “Come on, let’s get out of here.” She started to stand up, and was about to head towards the door when the man caught her arm

“No, wait! I’m with the police, don’t worry.”

He let her go, and fumbled through his pockets as Lin glared at him, with Martin looking quite confused at her side. 

“Ok sorry, that wasn’t a very good introduction on my part…” He showed her his police badge. “Let’s start again, I’m detective Harry Müller, and I’ve heard all about the Doctor. The UNIT files are such a fascinating read! I hope she’ll be able to help me in my investigation...” He trailed off, realising all three of them were standing in the middle of the bar. They seemed to be attracting weird looks from some of the customers.

“Erm, let’s just go sit at a booth so I can explain to you why I’m here and why the Doctor’s help would be such a great asset.” He smiled, gesturing to the more private tables near the back of the bar. “What are your names?”

“I’m Martin, and this is my sister Lin” said Martin, smiling back.

Arm crossed, Lin followed Harry, her brother close behind.

* * *

Once they were seated and had ordered drinks, Harry spoke again, in a low and conspiratorial tone.

“See, I’m actually here about the heist. Everything leads to Gwenda, and to something big going down tonight, perhaps even a meeting with  _ Le Renard _ themselves.”

“But wait, they announced on the news that the police was investigating on Nyl,” said Lin, looking surprised

“Ah! But that was just a ruse, a fake leak to the press to make the bandits think we weren’t on their tails. It was actually my idea!” Harry looked quite smug at the success of his plan.

“Hang on a minute, what are you two talking about? What’s that about a fox? What heist? What is going on here?” asked Martin, looking even more confused, if that was possible.

Harry and Lin filled him in on the situation, and his face went from confused to downright excited.

“Oh Lin, this is great! Another adventure, and right where the Doctor landed us for our holiday! And on the exact date of the meeting too! Isn’t that just a great coincidence?”

“If it is a coincidence at all…” grumbled Lin, looking none too happy at the development of the day. And now, she was sure that her suspicions were right. Goodbye, quiet times… 

“So, you think the Doctor might be investigating this too?” asked Harry “That’d be great, because her help would be invaluable to get an arrest.”

“Well, it would certainly explain why she was behaving so strangely when we split up this morning,’ said Lin. ‘Plus, I’m sure I saw the name of that collection somewhere in the TARDIS.” Lin shook her head. Honestly, could the Doctor ever be upfront? And could she just spend one day without getting them all mixed up in trouble? “Going off to investigate a heist and leaving us in the dark is totally her style.”

“Right. Do you know how we can contact her? I’ve been asking around the market place for intel on the meeting, but all I got was that it was indeed tonight, some time between 9pm and 1am, but I still don’t know where it’s happening. I’m sure with the Doctor’s help we could find out easily and plan how to get them.”

“That sound like a good idea, Harry, but I have no idea where she’s got to… you’ve read the files, you know how the Doctor can be.” answered Lin. 

“Wait! I know!” exclaimed Martin, happy to finally be of use “Remember this morning? She told us to go back to the TARDIS if ever we needed her, and that she’d show up in 5 minutes.”

“Yes?”

“Well, I’ll be right back!”

And with that, he got off his seat and ran out the bar’s door, still smiling and with a twinkle in his eyes.

Lin put her face in her hands

“That kid is going to be the death of me, I swear,” she sighed.

“Umm, should we follow him?” asked Harry

“Nah, he’ll be fine.There’s no safer place to be than near the TARDIS, plus there’s no way to make him change his mind once he’s started like that. Let’s stay here and try to plan our approach for tonight. And if we wander off, he’ll never be able to find us again once he meets up with the Doctor,” she said, hoping for once that she was right in putting her trust in her brother.

“Alright then. Are you sure he’ll find the Doctor though?” asked Harry, a worried expression on his face.

“Oh, I’m certain of it.”

She tried to sound certain, but deep down Lin wasn’t so sure. She prayed she hadn’t made a mistake in letting Martin go on his own...

* * *

He walked quickly through the streets, trying to trace their steps back towards the dark alley they arrived in. It might not be much, but he could at least do this small feat to help his sister and the rather handsome detective.

He could show his sister that he was capable of handling himself, even if it was just to go and fetch the Doctor. He was always trying to prove himself to her, but instead of helping solve whatever problem they were facing, he usually ended up deep in trouble, just proving Lin right about how he needed protection. But he was twenty two now, and could very well go adventuring on his own. Maybe if he helped Harry solve his case, he could both attract the attention of the young ginger and put Lin in her place. But for that he needed the Doctor. At least she believed in him and didn’t try to mother him all the time, which really was one of the main advantages of traveling with the madwoman. She also had a knack for getting him out of trouble, and not blaming him afterwards for the whole situation (He put the thought that she was usually the one to blame for getting him into trouble in the first place to the back of his mind). Lin might always be slightly suspicious of the Doctor and accuse her of ulterior motives, but he knew she was a reliable friend he could count on, and she would never do anything to harm them. Not on purpose anyway.

He turned into another street full of shops and tourists. He was getting close, he was sure of it, but… had they even gone this way earlier? He looked around, afraid of being lost but not daring to admit that to himself.

Martin tried to find some familiar details he might have picked up in the morning. He was starting to feel uneasy,as if he was being watched. He was sure he could see movements behind the windows above the shops. Or… was that just his imagination? He marched on, advancing slowly through the crowd, still trying to find his way.

Wait! That bookshop stall looked extremely familiar. He walked towards it, pushing asides humans and aliens alike. Indeed, it was the right spot; he could see the passageway leading to the alley where the TARDIS was parked. Putting his unease aside, he confidently strolled towards the dark and unlit alley.

As he made his way towards the TARDIS, his paranoia of being watched came back. This time he was sure that people were definitely watching him through the faded and dirt encrusted windows of the top floors of the building. And… what was that noise behind him? Someone walking right into a pile of junk? He turned, perhaps a little too quickly for someone who kept telling himself he wasn’t scared, but it was only a cat. The animal ran into a building via a broken window, probably hoping to find some mice. There was nothing to be worried about really, and he was just being silly and letting himself be frightened by totally normal noises. Focus on the Doctor, Martin! he told himself. Focus on how happy Harry will be when you help him solve the case! He briskly walked the last few steps that stood between him and the TARDIS, hoping the Doctor would be around before he started feeling paranoid again. If he wanted to show to Lin what he was made of, it really wouldn’t do to be afraid of a simple dark alley and a few stray cats, right? He was just imagining it all. He rested his hand on the blue box, letting the low humming calm him down. 

There, he was with the TARDIS; nothing could go wrong. He took a few deep breaths, and knocked on the door while calling out for the Doctor:

“Hey, Doc! Where are you? You got to come help us! We met this charming detective, and would you believe it, he’s working on a fascinating case right now! Something or other about a crime ring and a boss called  _ Le Renard _ . We’re really close to busting them, but we need your help!”

There. He hoped that wherever she was, she had heard him. If anything, it made him feel even better. Saying all that out loud might not have been wise, but it really helped his morale, and cleared his head of his fears. He was on a mission to stop bad guys. He was near the TARDIS, the Doctor on her way. Next stop, an epic adventure, an happy ending that would win him Harry’s affection and Lin’s approval… everything was fine.

He was still smiling happily to himself when the blow to his head came, and then there was nothing but darkness.

* * *

Lin looked at her watch while drumming her finger nervously on the table. Martin had been gone almost two hours now, far longer than getting the Doctor’s attention should have normally taken. She looked at Harry, who sat across the table from her, and she could see in his face that he was also worried. What was Martin doing? It was almost time for the meetup, for which they still didn’t know the place. Time was running out.

Oh god, what if he ran into trouble? Lin cursed under her breath. She would never be able to forgive herself if he got hurt because of her carelessness. She knew she was slightly overprotective of him, and that he was a fully grown man capable of fending for himself, but still, he had little to no common sense. She had been trying to give him more space lately, so that he could grow into his own, but what if that had been a huge mistake?

She looked at her watch again. He wasn’t coming back, was he? Harry glanced at her. They had spent the last two hours talking and sharing anecdotes, her telling him all about her travel through space and time, and him sharing his stories about office life in a police station. 

They had forged the beginning of a good friendship and Harry couldn’t help but share her worries for her brother, who was a good looking and nice, if seemingly naïve, individual. But still, the clock was ticking, and he had a mission.

“Alright, I think we really need to do something now. We can’t keep waiting in this bar forever, or else we’ll miss our best chance to catch them.”

He started getting up, gathering his things and gesturing for the waiter so he could pay the bill.

“But what if he gets back right after we leave? What if we only just miss him?”

Lin knew she was being stubborn and unreasonable, but Martin was her brother. She couldn’t just go look for a crime boss while he was missing.

“Lin, I know you’re worried, and yeah, I am too. My back-up team isn’t even around and they were supposed to have contacted me already, but we need to get a move on. If we catch the Renard tonight, Martin will be safer, wherever he is. We might be on our own, but we can pull this off. Please, this is important.”

She sighed, and rose up from her seat.“You’re right. Maybe we’ll find him by asking around in the streets too. He does have the bad habits of getting in trouble and ending in the shadiest of places, which is exactly where a secret mob meetup would take place,” she reasoned.

Just as the waiter walked over to their table, a young kid ran into the bar. He looked tired and hungry. Clearly, he was living on the streets.

“I got a paper for a miss called Lin!” he announced loudly, making everyone in the bar turn in his direction.

“Um… that’s me,” said Lin, walking toward the young boy and leaving Harry to quickly settle their bill.

“A’ight then” 

He handed her a small and expensive looking envelope, with her name written in cursive on the back. He looked expectantly at her.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I have that much money to give you…” She said absent-mindedly as she rummaged her pockets. Finally, she found some spare change and an apple. She handed both to the child, who smiled at her with half his teeth missing before running quickly out of the door.

“What was that?” asked Harry, who was now standing behind her shoulder.

“Honestly? I have no idea. But this might tell us something about where Martin is, or some info about your mysterious fox…”

She tore open the letter. Inside was a small slip of paper, with a fine, delicate, and somewhat familiar handwriting scrawled across it. It read:

“ **_If you want to see Martin again, be at the Drowning Gardens at 9.30. Bring the detective._ **

**_With all my best wishes,_ **

**** **** **** ****

**** **** ******_Le Renard._ ** ”

Lin’s mouth dropped open, and she just stood gasping at the letter. Harry took it from her while she sat down, numb from shock. This was it. She had failed her duty, and now her little brother was in the hand of a dangerous criminal. His life was in danger. She just stared at the wall, only half aware of Harry’s gasp as he read the note. What could she do now? Was it already too late? Where was the Doctor? She was on the verge of tears, and she knew that it wouldn’t help to get Martin back, but she couldn’t stop herself. All she wanted was for the fearless adventuress to walk into the bar, and take charge of the situation, solving it in one flick of her sonic screwdriver, like she always did. Please. Just let Martin be safe…

Harry’s tugging at her arm brought her back to reality. She looked dumbly at him, conscious of the tears now streaming her cheeks.

“Come on, Lin! We got to go, it’s almost nine thirty already and the Gardens aren’t just next door!”He pressed a few buttons on his wrist communicator, then looked up at her again “Still no news from my backup team.I left them a message telling them where we’re going, but we can’t wait for an answer, and we don’t have time to get to the Doctor…”

Lin steadied herself. There was no time for tears and hopeless thinking. The Renard had arranged a meetup, so that meant Martin was alive. For now. She just had to make sure he stayed that way.

She finally rose, and despite her shaky legs, followed Harry as he ran out of the bar to save Martin.

She didn’t need the Doctor, she could save her brother on her own. Or so she hoped…

* * *

They arrived just as a clock sounded the half hour to the deserted Gardens. In the dark, the water surrounding them gave everything a strange and eerie atmosphere. In other circumstance it might be been beautiful, but now it only deepened the feeling of danger.

Harry had drawn his gun and was walking slowly, trying his best to figure a way out of the trap they were walking into. Lin walked a few steps behind him, her mind alert and focused on her environment. She couldn’t afford to be worried sick for Martin. That wouldn’t help her save him after all. And she had no time to think of the Doctor’s fate. For all she knew, she would have to help rescue the Time Lady too...

They had almost reached the center of the gardens, and still they couldn’t see anyone. But then, hiding behind the floating water bubbles containing some of the plants wasn’t that hard, and with all the different lights they couldn’t even begin to guess which shadows were natural and which were caused by a hitman. 

Lin shivered, both because of the cold of the setting night and because she really had a bad feeling about this. She almost said as much out loud, but decided that would just jinx it against her. She had seen enough movies to know better.

Harry stepped in the center dome of the gardens, lit by the moons’ reflection on the water hanging over their heads, and quickly checked the place out before raising his gun and gesturing for her to come join him.

“Do you see anything?” She whispered, not wanting to bring too much attention to them while knowing full well that if anyone was there, they already knew exactly what the pair had been doing. Whispering just seemed like the thing to do in the situation.

“No, I don’t see anyone, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t being watched…”

“Indeed.” A sharp voice came from behind them, making Lin jump and Harry point his gun roughly in the direction of the sound.

“Actually, I’m surprised you didn’t hear us, considering the racket our esteemed guest was trying to cause… drop the gun if you don’t want him to suffer more.”

Lin could see silhouettes reflected all around them. They were surrounded. Harry swore, and carefully put his gun on the ground. Lin focused on the direction of the voice, sure that it sounded familiar. But where has she heard it before?

“ _ Le Renard _ , I presume?” Harry asked, in a defiant tone.

Lin could make out the silhouettes’ shape now. One was her brother, on his knees, and the other… the other had a familiar hat…a familiar posture… could it?

“Herself.”

From the shadows stepped the Doctor. And she had a gun strained on Martin’s head.

“Hello Lin. Nice to see you again.” She smiled, but all the usual warmth was gone.

“I did tell you to stay out of trouble, didn’t I?”

* * *

Lin’s mouth gaped open as Martin looked at her quizzically. She must be having a bad dream right? In a few minutes, she was going to wake up, safe in her room in the TARDIS with Martin running in the corridor and the Doctor up to harmless antics like making pancakes or battling Daleks. Not as a mob boss with a gun pointed directly at her brother. This couldn’t be happening…

“Doctor?” She stammered,surprised she even managed to make a sound. She felt light headed and a little wobbly on her feet, and reached out to Harry for support.

“Wait… What? What are you talking about, Lin? Is that… the Doctor? So the Renard _ is _ the Doctor? That certainly explains why we never caught them before… and why we had so many different descriptions...” Harry continued to babble, almost as shocked as Lin to find out that his hero and the criminal he had been hunting were but one and the same.

“And who’s that you brought with you, Lin? A policeman? Seriously? Did you learn nothing traveling with me?” the Doctor said, waving her gun in his general direction.

“I am detective Harry Müller of the Earth Federation, and you, Renard, Doctor, or whatever you call yourself, are under arrest!” 

The Doctor looked at Harry blankly, wondering if he was serious before bursting into laughter, throwing her head back when she realised he was as serious as could be.

“Right. I’m not the one with a few dozen armed goons surrounding me you know. What can you really do all on your own?” she taunted.

“Just wait and see. My back-up team is coming soon, and they may not be as forgiving as I am!” he said, with as much gusto was he could muster, which, under the circumstance, really wasn’t that much.

“Seems being imbeciles really is a Harry thing,” the Doctor muttered to herself, but still loud enough for Harry and Lin to hear. “I already dealt with them, you idiots. Your back-up team isn’t coming, because they’re currently answering your distress call on Ribos. I expect they will be quite surprised when they arrive to find no traces of you. Oh, and that message you sent? I blocked the communication,” she concluded smugly. “Yes, I’ve thought of everything, and yes I know, I’m a genius.”

Harry just looked at her in disbelief, slowly realising that this was probably it. So much for his dream of greatness and recognition… 

“But.. why?” Lin asked, knowing full well this was a stupid question but trying desperately to gain some time. She could still find a way to save them, right? She looked at Martin, who was still on his knees and seemed to be doing his best to be forgotten about.

“Come on, Lin, I’m not going to have a rant explaining my whole plan and tragic backstory now. Heaven knows we’ve had enough of those with the like of Davros, right?”

Despite herself, Lin cracked a smile, recalling the altercation. Yes indeed, she doubted the Doctor would ever go on such crazed rant, but then, five minutes ago she would have doubted the Doctor could run a crime ring and yet here they all were. Just goes to show you never know people as well as you think you do, she reflected. At least now she knew what the Doctor had been up to today, and it explained her uncharacteristic foxy attitude this morning (Lin realised this might not be as uncharacteristic either. She really did deserve her nickname, it seemed). The Doctor had been off to meet up with the thieves, checking that her carefully planned heist had gone according to plan...

“Yes, Davros, that was such a simpler time…” The Doctor continued. “We had fun then… why must I always pick up companions with a moral fiber?” She sighed, and shook her head “Honestly, you can’t even organise a heist this day without someone catching on and wanting to arrest you for it! Why can’t they see how fascinating it is to plan criminal activity? And so much more rewarding that crime fighting! Ask anyone, and they know who  _ Le Renard _ is and what they did, but the Doctor? Nothing but vague conspiracy theories on obscure website and forums…” she trailed off and looked directly at Lin. “See? This is why. all those years playing the hero and for what?” 

“Why even travel with us then?’ demanded Lin, forgetting for a moment that the Doctor was pointing a gun at her. ‘What’s the point of picking up companions if it always ends like this?”

“It’s the perfect cover story, obviously. You see two young impressionable kids traveling with their mentor figure and being amazed by the sights, no one would ever connect them with whatever schemes I’ve got going on. And it’s still so much fun to show new people around the universe. I’m not a villain, Lin, I just know where my best interests lie” the Doctor said, a wishful look on her face, as if she were recalling simpler, better times. Then it was gone, and she was back to her cold and calculating face. “Basically, you are nothing but a convenient alibi.”

Lin and Harry looked at each other, not really sure how to respond to what the Doctor was saying. But both seemed to have the same thought, as they simultaneously asked, “So… What happens to us now?” in perfect unison..

The Doctor smiled again, a small, predatory grin so far removed for her usual charms it sent shivers running down Lin’s spine. She knew there was no way out this time. A sob got caught in her throat, and she could see that Martin was openly crying now. 

“What happens to you now, you ask?”

She picked Martin up and kicked him towards his sister, and then gestured to her goons to draw in closer. Lin looked at Martin apologetically and hugged him close to her, silent tears running down her face. Harry looked around frantically, hoping to see something that could save them, hoping in vain that his back-up team would arrive in the nick of time. He too seemed close to tears as he came to the same inevitable conclusion. They were trapped.

The Doctor turned on her heel and started walking away, gesturing for her men to take aim. As the goons pointed their guns toward them, all Lin could see was the Doctor’s silhouette framed by the moons’ reflection on the overhanging water. She wanted to say something, to curse the Time Lady who ruined her life, her brother’s life… but she couldn’t think of anything.

“Now,” called the Doctor as she vanished into the night. “Now you die”

The sound of gunfire rang around her as she slowly walked out of the garden, towards her TARDIS, never once looking back.  


* * *

Mathilde ran for her life along the dark and grimy corridor. Behind her echoed the sound of lasers, getting ever so closer. And yet, her day had started so well! A new job, a new start. But when she’d first stepped into her office building, everything had changed, and now she was running away from pepper-pots shaped robots that seemed determined to either capture or exterminate her. She hadn’t stayed around them long enough to be sure. 

She turned a corner and skidded to a halt. Right in front of her sat a conspicuous blue police box. It clashed so much with its surroundings she could only gasp at it, momentarily forgetting her imminent peril. How did that get here? And more importantly, could it possibly be a way out of this nightmare? 

As she was slowly making her way around it, a door opened in the side of the box. Mathilde stepped back in wonder at the light now flooding the corridor, and the face of the most beautiful woman she’d ever seen came into view. The stranger’s long black hair was illuminated by the box’s surreal light, her brown eyes twinkled, and she had the biggest grin Mathilde had ever seen plastered across her face.

“Hello,” said the woman.“I’m the Doctor! Need some help?”

**Author's Note:**

> What if... The Doctor was the head of a criminal ring?
> 
> This is my first try at writing fanfic really, so despite it not being quite as I'd have liked, I still liked how it turned out!


End file.
